Delver Magic: Book 06 - Pure Choice Read Free Page B

his
attention to his duties.
    "What do you need of me
now?"
    "I've got foot patrols
waiting at crossroads throughout the town. Make sure they're armed with chain
nets and they know to capture these blasted things as opposed to killing them.
There should be plenty of nets in every armory. They'll get signals from the
towers on what they need to do, but I'd feel better if you delivered the
message personally to as many as you can."
    "Done."
    While Klusac mounted his horse and
rode off into the darkness, Sy resigned himself to simply watching and waiting.
He stepped back through the barracks entrance but stopped after only a couple
of steps. He stood under an open trap door that led to the roof, and he turned
to get a clear view of the nearest tower through the front entrance. Despite
the delver's speed, he knew he would have at least a few moments of quiet.
    The guard captain actually
embraced the momentary silence that washed across the empty barracks. As he
became more of a leader of the entire town and less of a soldier, hushed
moments of contemplation grew in importance. He used such time to weigh his
decisions, those already made and those he still faced. Finding the right
balance between benefits and hazards became a greater part of his duties than
facing down goblins, shags, and river rogues.
    He considered Ryson, pictured him
racing across the town—a blur of motion and a flash of light. The delver was
doing what he loved to do, and Sy couldn't deny the advantage of having a
purebred delver available to him; to scout the surrounding lands, to uncover
enemies, and to help protect the town. Unfortunately, Ryson's unyielding moral
compass created certain risks that potentially offset such advantages.
    Sy silently cursed the situation.
It would have been easier if it was just one or two rogues. He wouldn't have
had to ask for the delver's help. His soldiers could have found the creatures
and dispatched them. Problem solved. He just wasn't that lucky. There were too
many confirmed sightings and too many unknowns.
    He had given in to Ryson because
he wanted the delver's help—needed Ryson's keen senses—but keeping rogues alive
to release them down river began to sound like far too great a concession. The
question he faced centered on the benefit of having the delver's aid versus the
compromises he had to make, compromises he believed increased the risk to his
town just to keep dark creatures alive.
    It didn't make sense, not to a
soldier and certainly not to a captain of the guard. He would have to speak
with Ryson, and friend or not— delver or not—Sy would make his growing concerns
known.
    As for Ryson, the delver brushed
the brief disagreement with Sy from his mind. He concentrated almost entirely
on finding the river rogues as he raced away from the barracks. During his past
scouts, he had come across several rogues in the course of his travels, but he
always kept a safe distance. His remarkable memory and mind for detail allowed
him to recall an accurate description of the monster.
    They were odd looking beasts. He
always thought of an elongated lake trout with arms and legs whenever he
pictured one. Of course, it also had fangs and claws, and a viciousness that
made it extremely dangerous.
    A clear visual image of a rogue,
however, was not essential in locating the ones that stalked the town. Holding
the brightly glowing sword in front of him, Ryson relied little on what he
could see. Instead, he focused on what he could smell. The scent of a river
rogue was strong and obvious, more so than that of a shag. Even as the smells
of burning lanterns and late night cooking fires filled the air, he knew the
rogues would not be able to hide their scent from him.
    Sergeant Klusac had informed the
delver of the locations of the rogue sightings, and Ryson rushed to the first
location, near the northwestern section of the city. He found the scent trail
immediately and he raced onward knowing the rogue was close by but